Maryland Family Orders Prop Casket for Halloween Decor, Find Dead Woman’s Remains Inside

A Baltimore family who ordered a prop casket for a Halloween party received the shock of their lives when they found a dead woman’s belongings inside, including her ashes.

The Wozniak family said they had ordered the casket from Facebook Marketplace. After the discovery, the family took to TikTok to share the bizarre episode in the hopes of returning the items to the deceased woman’s family.

In the viral TikTok video, Brooke Wozniak said the family found the ashes of Edith Crews, a 74-year-old community pastor who died in January of COVID-19.

Other items found taped underneath the cardboard of the casket inside included an envelope believed to contain Edith Crews’ ashes, Crews’ photograph, her death certificate, which had her social security number, and the George Washington University Hospital bracelet she wore, FOX 5 DC reported.

Wozniak posted the video in hopes of finding Crews’ family so that she could return her belongings to them. “Everyone was in shock. And we didn’t really know how to feel about it,” Wozniak told Fox 5 Washington DC. “My first reaction was, we’ve got to find the family. We gotta find whoever the next of kin is or whoever knows her.”

The viral video eventually caught the attention of the deceased woman’s granddaughter, who later showed it to her mom, Sabrina Jones. Jones told FOX 5 DC the discovery reignited the pain of losing her mother but was grateful that the Wozniaks kept the items and returned them to her family.

Crews’ family said they had rented the casket through Freeman Funeral Services and that she was cremated after. It’s unclear how the casket ended up on Facebook Marketplace. The funeral services company sent multiple caskets to a scrap metal business for destruction, Fox 5 reported.